Garment-fastener.



PATENTED AUG. 18, 1903. H, BOOTH. GARMENT PASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24. 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 18, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HOBERT BOOTH, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BOOTHMANUFACTURING COMPANY, .OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, A CORPO- RATION OFCONNECTICUT.

GARM ENT- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 7 3 6,81 1,dated August 18, 1903.

Application filed September 24, 1902. Serial No. 124,660. (No model.)

I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invention relates to devices employed for the purpose ofsecuring the meeting edges of garments.

The most usual fastening device for garments consists of buttons andbuttonholes; but for various reasons it is often veryinconvenient andalmost impossible, in fact, to use buttons on some garments. Under suchconditions a fastening means consisting of a hook and eye has beenemployed to a large extent. There is, however, an objection common toboth the button and hook fastening in that it is necessary in order toeffect the proper engagement of parts to draw the garment more tightlythan to its ultimate condition when fastened, the tension beingmaterially decreased after the fastening is made. The reason for this iswell known. Some backlash or looseness is necessary to enable thefastening to be made. The garment must therefore be put underconsiderable strain if it is intended that it fit snugly when fastened.Moreover, the ordinary hookandeye fastener often becomes disengaged uponslight movements of the body. The object of the present invention is toprovide a fastener which will not be subject to this defect.

Another object of the present invention is to obviate many of the otherobjectionable features in former devices 7 and to provide means wherebya garment may be secured about the person without drawing it moretightly than substantially to its ultimate degree of tension.

A further object of the invention consists in the provision of a simpleand inexpensive fastening means positive in its action and which may berapidly adjusted into locking l or releasing positions by means of asingle linear movement of either one of the parts.

Further objects will appear in connection with the following descriptionand claims.

To the above ends the present invention consists in the devices andcombinations of devices to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved fasteningslide and button in detached relation. Fig. 2 is a side elevationshowing the slide and button in locked engagement. Fig. 3 is a plan viewrepresenting the blank from which the slide is made after it has beenstamped and cut preparatory to being doubled upon itself.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout thedescription and drawings.

My improved fastener consists of two partsa button or like element and aslide for cooperating with the button, the slide being provided with anopen-ended slot for that purpose. This arrangement permits the fasteningor releasing to be accomplished by means of movements which are lateralas distinguished from the movements of the component parts in button orhook-and-eye fastoners relatively to each other.

Sheet metal is preferably employed in the construction of the fastener,the metal of which the slide is made being of a resilient character.

The button A may be of any desired charactor, but preferably consists ofa base a, a shank a, and a head a the whole being stamped from sheetmetal as an integral piece or else composed of several parts suitablysecured together. Holes 0. are provided for se curing the button inplace. The button per se forms no part of the present invention, andfurther description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

The present invention lies in the slide B, which consists of a blank ofresilient metal stamped into the desired form and then doubled uponitself. A slot 1), of a suitable length,

a is cut in the blank and the metal adjacent one end of the slot isdepressed, as at-b. This depression receives the head of the button whenthe parts are interlocked. In the drawings the depression is shown ascircular; but any desirable shape may of course be employed, accordingto the configuration of the button-head. An offset 19 is formed near oneend of the blank, this olfset being preferably somewhat greater than thedepth to which the metal is depressed at b. Openings b b and b areprovided for securing the slide to the apparel. When the blank isdoubled upon itself, the offset 1) bears against the body portion andthe openings 2) and b register, so that the completed slide presentsthree openings by which it may be secured in place. It will be noticedthat the mere act of securing the slide to a piece of wearing-apparelfirmly unites the free ends thereof. The slot 1) produces a bifurcationin the end of the finished slide, forming a pair of legs I) thereby. Theshank of the button A is designed to slide between these legs until thehead a comes into alinement with the depression I). The thick ness ofthe respective legs b -that is, thedistance between the outer surfacesof the wings b and b-is slightly in excess of the length of thebutton-shank. The ends of the legs being rounded, however, in theprocess of bending or doubling and the metal being resilient, a slightpressure forces the button and slide together. When the head of thebutton comes into alinement with the depression I), the compressed wingsspring apart to their normal positions, causing the head to engage withthe walls of said depression, so that in order to disengage the parts aconsiderable pull must be exerted.

It will be seen that in my device there is embodied a very convenientand efficient fastening means. In the use thereof the meeting edges ofthe apparel remain at the extreme limit to which they have been drawn oradjusted to efiect the fastening, a result not obtainable in connectionwith fastening devices such as are referred to above.

The walls of the recess 6 present shoulders whereby the button is heldin place positively just as efficiently as in those devices in whichthere is the objectionable backlash, and by making the slide material ofvery stiff metal it is possible to obtain almost any desired degree ofsecurity.

Not only is a convenient and efficient fastening device produced, butalso one which is Very simply made and at a very small cost. On accountof its simplicity the danger of breakage is greatly reduced and the lifeof the device increased. It will be seen that the slot itself neverchanges in form and that therefore the shoulder formed by the demos sionor recess does not become weakened during the use of the device, ceasingthereby to effectively hold the button in place.

While the invention will be found most useful in securing parts ofwearing-apparel, yet its use is not limited to such a class of articles,as it may be employed to advantage wherever two parts are to bedetachably secured together.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to protect byLetters Patentof the United States- 1. A garment-fastener having incombination, a plate having means for securing it to a garment, and alsohaving a slot extending through one end thereof, the material of theplate being depressed adjacent theinner end of the slot, forming therebya cavity between the plate and the garment, a resilient member arrangedupon the plate on the face opposite the depression and a stud having ahead adapted to engage said depression, substantially as described.

2. In a garment-fastener, a slide comprising a plate of resilientmaterial provided at one end with a shoulder and with a slotintermediate its ends, said-plate being doubled upon itself intermediatethe ends of said slot, whereby an open-ended slot is formed in thedoubled plate and the shoulder maintains the two members of said plateat some distance apart, there being a depression adjacent the inner endof the slot and on the face of the slide adapted to be placed next tothe garment, and means for securing said slide to a garment,substantially as described.

3. In a garment-fastener, a slide comprising a plate of resilientmaterial provided with an offset shoulder at one end and a slotintermediate its ends, there being openings formed in the ofisetshoulder and near the opposite end of the plate, said plate beingdoubled upon itself intermediate the ends of the slot,whereby anopen-ended slotis formed in the doubled plate and the said openings arecaused to register, and a shoulder intermediate the ends of theopen-ended slot, substantially as described.

4:. -In a garment-fastener, a slide comprising a plateof resilientmaterial having a slot, an offset at one end of the plate, said platebeing doubled upon itself intermediate the ends of the slot formingthereby an openended slot in the doubled plate, a shoulder intermediatethe ends of the latter slot and means for securing the free ends of theplate together, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HOBERT BOOTH.

Witnesses:

GILBERT H. BLAKESLEY, ALICE E. BROWN.

